


Human Traditions

by morrezela



Series: A Man's Fortune [4]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Dragon Riders, Dragons, M/M, holiday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-03 01:58:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8692021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morrezela/pseuds/morrezela
Summary: Jared decides to give his rider a surprise Thanks Giving feast because he loves him enough to put up with strange human customs.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a holiday timestamp fic meme I did in 2011. You probably should read "A Man's Fortune" first for this to make any sense :).

Human traditions were weird. Jared knew this and accepted it because his mate was even more human than most mates were. To have a happy lair, one must make sacrifices. His own father-rider had been human as had his grandmother-rider before him, and Jared had done his best as a little dragonling to pay attention to what they said about human things.

It had all been very confusing what with the way humans stayed together in large groups and bartered their treasures back and forth like they meant nothing. Why humans even made treasure for the specific purpose of trading it back and forth for other treasure!

As a youngling, Jared hadn’t understood this at all, especially when these ‘coins’ were oh so pretty and shiny. Surely they would be happier being taken care of by a dragon that would appreciate how special each and every one of them was.

Jared’s first treasure pile had been of 'coins.' His father rider had helped him build a space beneath his bedding place, and every night when he went to slumber and every morning when he rose, he would peak under the bed to make certain they remained safe and shiny.

His mother had been very proud of how well he kept his 'coins' free from tarnish while not rubbing away their detailings with over polishing. Jared’s treasure keeping skills had always been renowned in their circles of friends. He was the envy of many a dragon-mother and dragon-father with the way that his natural instincts were for his things.

Even before he had finally found and taken a rider, Jared had received offers to father clutches. He’d gotten promises of waiting until he found a rider. Some even scandalously suggested that he father a clutch before he was properly saddled! As if he could even fathom bringing home a dragonling with no parent-rider to coddle it and make it feel special! Jared had been raised better than that and had immediately struck those brood mothers off his list of potential mothers that he’d meticulously kept for years now.

When he finally snared Jensen, Jared thought that his life was complete. Then Jensen ran away, and Jared thought that he would die. He almost did die. To lose one’s greatest treasure like that was a horrible, horrible pain that he would do anything to keep from happening again.

Jensen, being so very human, hadn’t seen it that way at all. Even though he had come to his senses, he still accused Jared of being selfish more often than not,. Jared had just come to think of it as a term of endearment from his beloved. Jensen couldn’t help but be what he was, and he didn’t seem to have thoughts of leaving Jared alone anymore, so there was no need to fret about it.

Still, to keep one’s rider happy, one had to be ever vigilant about one’s behaviors. Jared’s father-rider had been very specific about how humans treasured different things than dragon’s did. They treasured thoughts and feelings and freedoms, but one could display the first two with things with dragon treasure if one planned far enough in advance.

Jared, after the first debacle of a missed holiday that Jensen was quite put out about, always made certain to plan in advance. Discussions with Jensen about feelings and freedom were painful. He couldn’t ever grasp Jensen's erratic logic about such things as ‘needing space’ and being ‘so mad that I don’t want to look at you right now.’

Why should a dragon want to be parted from his rider? It was unthinkable. If Jared could convince his beloved to, he would take Jensen with him everywhere he went just to feel the squeeze of his rider’s thighs about his withers, warming them both from the contact they shared.

But Jensen hated heights, so Jared had to keep those nuisances that called themselves shepherds off of his mountain by himself. It was lonely, to be sure, but the small separations did seem to make Jensen happier. He was more apt to ride Jared in the bedroom if he was happy, and very unlikely to do it at all if he was put out with Jared’s behavior.

The festival of Thanks Giving wasn’t that odd of a concept for Jared. He just questioned the timing of it because it was right after the human’s harvesting period. Surely they should celebrate after they had made it through the harsh winter. Giving thanks then seemed much more appropriate, but Jared had just reconciled himself to the fact that humans were poor planners that wouldn’t have much left in their storehouses by the end of winter.

Low rations would make for poor feasting, and Jared could see that there would be little fun in having a feast on leftover foodstuffs.

Jensen always became melancholy around holidays, and Jared could sympathize with his rider on this. When he had first established his own lair, he had missed his dragon-mother’s spacious tunnels and glittering treasures. It had been strange to see barren stone walls that glittered only with the gifts that nature had given them. He had also missed his father-rider’s soothing tones that always consoled him when Jared clumsily broke one of his pieces of pottery.

So Jared spied on some human villagers as they prepared for their ritual feasting. It was harder than it sounded. The people of Jensen’s village knew his face, so he had to fly to a location farther away. This wouldn’t have been a problem, but Jensen chose that particular period to be clingy for the first time ever.

He didn’t want Jared to go, wanted to be close to his dragon, and it just confused the way that Jared comprehended his rider’s thoughts. Jared tried to make up for it by extra cuddling when he was back in their lair and promises of extra special treasures. Jensen had laughed at these promises and told Jared he didn’t need treasures, but Jared had made certain to not take offense. Riders sometimes expressed their appreciation for things in strange ways.

Regardless of Jensen's strangely affectionate mood, Jared continued his feasting plans. He started by stealing pies from foolish human’s windowsills. If they were silly enough to put such tasty treasures in peril, then they had no business keeping such bounty.

The vegetables he had stockpiled at home. His menagerie needed such things to live and be spoiled with, and Jensen’s human body needed more vegetable matter than Jared’s. He was probably overstocked, but he had no wish to see his rider become ill because of improper diet.

The turkey though, that Jared hunted down himself. Normally he saw them as tasty little treats. They were an indulgence for when he wanted a snack for himself. Usually he feasted on them when his rider made noises about wanting to have a special evening meal together. Jared had learned that Jensen usually wanted these meals when he was feeling particularly amorous, and it was best for Jared to show hearty appreciation for these special meals if he wanted to be ridden in exceptional and exciting ways.

But he was still a dragon, and he was hungry, so he couldn’t just wait to eat until he returned to his lair for the evening. He didn’t think that his rider comprehended just how much Jared ate on any given day. Jensen tended to think of his dragon as a human with human appetites simply because of the form that Jared would take while in his lair.

Jared was somewhat ashamed to admit that he encouraged Jensen in this belief because it made things easier. He fretted that Jensen would not be so willing to give him his kisses if he knew the way that Jared hunted and ate when he was doing his patrols. Jared needed his kisses from his beloved treasure, and he would not do anything to jeopardize their continuing bestowment.

In any case, snacking turkeys were far different from feasting turkeys. For one thing, humans didn’t eat feathers. Jared couldn’t say that he enjoyed the fluffy things either, but one didn’t take the time to pluck and roast one’s noontime snack.

Jared knew how to dress a fresh kill. He’d done it to chickens and ducks for Jensen and himself many a time. The turkey was no different. But the roasting… Jensen normally did that. He would spit their fowl over the cooking hearth and whine and moan about what a terrible cook he was.

While it was true that Jensen’s food was not as good as most of the meals that Jared had stolen in his lifetime, Jared was very appreciative of them nonetheless. They were tasty. Tastier than eating things raw, that was for certain. Unless one was talking about certain salmon that ran upstream in the spring, those were scrumptious. One of these days Jared was going to convince his rider that he should try one.

But the feast was supposed to be a surprise for Jensen, and Jared couldn’t surprise him if he asked his rider to roast his own turkey. Jared also couldn’t use the cooking hearth to make the bird. Jensen would smell it for certain and come looking for the source of the tempting smell.

Nature though, nature had gifted Jared with fire in his belly, and fire was used for cooking. He blew gently on the turkey. Even though its naked skin turned a little black, it still smelled fairly good after Jared was done with it. He wondered for a second about if he should take to blowing on his deer before eating it. Maybe the flavor would be better.

Casting aside the thought for another day, Jared very delicately picked up the now roasted bird in a taloned front paw. Jensen would not like it if Jared carried it in his mouth even though it would be more secure, so Jared had washed his paw in the river to rid it of dust and hopped around on three legs before plucking his newly roasted gift from its roasting pit.

The skin crackled as he grasped it, and his talons dug in a little and obscured the tiny thing from view, but Jared just knew it would still taste good even if he did grip too tightly and break a few of its bones on the way home.

Jensen was going to be so excited!


End file.
